A new Center of Excellence in Environmental Forecasting has been established at the College of William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Science & Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The center will turn long-term datasets, environmental sensors and advanced computer modeling into user-friendly forecasting tools that enhance coastal resilience and inform daily decision-making across Virginia and beyond, a release said.

On Friday, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Montross) visited the Gloucester Point campus to present Batten School Dean and VIMS Director Derek Aday with a ceremonial check for $1.6 million, representing federal funds that have been secured in support of the center.

CEEF received strong bipartisan support from federal legislators and has also received backing from state representatives. Virginia has allocated more than $800,000 for the center.

A significant portion of CEEF funding will support high-performance computing resources at William & Mary. These investments will allow researchers to run high-resolution models, process larger datasets and scale existing tools for broader public use.

Additional funds will support improvements to existing platforms and the development of new web-based tools, informed by public research and user-experience testing to ensure accessibility and usability.

As coastal populations grow and environmental conditions become more dynamic, forecasting tools are increasingly central to infrastructure planning, emergency response, commerce and recreation.

With CEEF, the Batten School and VIMS are building on decades of expertise to ensure that the science guiding those decisions is accessible, scalable and ready for the future, a release stated.

More information about CEEF can be found at vims.edu/ceef.